The kitchen garden is Wendy’s passion, who only wants the best for her kitchen. The vegetables grow in the ten raised beds, an unusual form of growing vegetables in these parts of italy. Tomatoes, potatoes, fruits however grow in the open field. An entirely organic garden whose results are the basis of the dishes served at the Filò.
Details:
A dozen fruit trees, thirty-six linear meters of fruit trees, a conventional vegetable garden plus ten raised beds: this was the result of reading and study that occupied many a winter afternoon. Our desire was to grow organic fruit and vegetables in a minimum of space and with minimum effort. In the end, we decided on the raised vegetable garden.
The first raised beds were made of wood, with banks thirty centimeters high; when they wore out, we switched to stone and higher banks, and on the strength of our experiments, we increased the number. These will last for several decades. Once they are filled with earth, you can put the spade aside: all you need to clean them out are your hands and small tools, a few minutes of work, and the height makes it unnecessary to be stooped over. Moreover, here in the hills, insects and weeds are less aggressive. Seedlings can already be grown close together and this also deters weeds.
Companion planting, growing plants together that benefit each are our allies: they thwart weeds and help control diseases. The compost we use for the vegetable garden is very rich, because we get residues from olive pruning, pommus from wine production, grass clippings, nettles. Our vegetables are well nourished.
It is never difficult to find accomplices to harvest the vegetables: relatives and friends are always ready to go and stock up, and lunches and dinners are often improvised based on what the garden offers. The children are enthusiastic volunteers when picking raspberries, blackberries or gooseberries.
